Zora Neale Hurston’s account of her travels in Haiti and Jamaica. Hurston, an Alabama and Florida native, traveled the two nations throughout 1936 and 1937 on a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship. Her travelogue offers both an American’s and an insider’s perspective on Haitian vodou, since she chose to take a participatory approach to her research, joining in the vodou rituals even as she studied them.

Dreams play a significant role in Little Children Dream of God. This academic essay by Harvard scholar (and oungan, or initiated vodou priest) Adam M. McGee expands on the relationship between dreams and Haitian vodou culture. McGee’s description of the Haitian vodou dream world as “a porous territory suffused with spiritual powers and entities” offers a real-world exploration of some of the most theatrical moments of Little Children Dream of God, in which Sula encounters her husband in a terrifying series of dreams, as well as a broader understanding of dreams in Haitian vodou culture and scholarship.

Immigration Policy and Facts

The following articles provide a snapshot of the complex systems of US Immigration Policy. The articles include some of the most recent federal developments as well as general and Haiti-specific statistics.

Sula names her baby boy Toussaint after Revolutionary hero Toussaint Louverture, who led the first successful slave revolt in history (in 1791) and launched the Haitian Revolution. This documentary covers the Revolution’s impact in Haiti as well as the reverberations of Haitian freedom throughout the US.

“Soledad O’Brien Speaks with Jean-Claude Duvalier”

In a 2014 Al Jazeera America interview, Special Correspondent Soledad O’Brien speaks with former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier (aka “Baby Doc”) as well as Robert Duval, a political prisoner during Duvalier’s reign. Duvalier is the son of another Haitian dictator, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier. Both were known for their brutality. Throughout the father and son’s reigns (1957 - 1986), some 30,000-60,0000 Haitians were killed, and thousands of others were raped, beaten, and tortured at the hands of the Volunteers for National Security, colloquially known as the Tontons Macoutes, or “bogeymen.” “Baby Doc,” in particular, was also known for incurring high debts and embezzling millions of dollars in international aid. The elder Duvalier died in 1971, and the younger died in 2014.

Though direct descendants of Haitian immigrants, both Joel and Madison have only a shaky grasp on their family’s native language. If you’re looking to expand your own knowledge of Haitian Creole, explore Brooklyn’s HCLI, which offers workshops, seminars, and small-group activities to those looking to read, write, and/or speak Haitian Creole. Winter 2015 classes included Elementary Haitian Creole and Haitian Creole for Heritage Learners. The institute also offers translation services, dialect coaching for performers, and cultural training.

Little Children Dream of God plays at Roundabout Underground through April 5. For more information and tickets, visit our website.

Immerse yourself in the world of The Real Thing with our recommended listening, reading and tasting lists!

LISTEN

The Crystals, “Da Doo Ron Ron”

HENRY: It’s not supposed to be eight records you love and adore.

CHARLOTTE: Yes, it is.

HENRY: It is not. It’s supposed to be eight records you associate with turning-points in your life.

CHARLOTTE: Well, I’m a turning-point in your life, and when you took me to Zermatt your favourite record was the Ronettes doing ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’.

HENRY: The Crystals. (scornfully) The Ronettes.

Émile Waldteufel, “The Skater’s Waltz”

HENRY: Look, ages ago, Debbie put on one of those classical but not too classical records -- she must have been about ten or eleven, it was before she dyed her hair -- and I said to you, ‘That’s that bloody tune they were driving me mad with when I was trying to write “Jean-Paul is up the Wall” in that hotel in Deauville all those years ago.’ Or Zermatt.

Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, “Um-Um-Um-Um-Um-Um”

Neil Sedaka, “Oh, Carol”

CHARLOTTE: He likes pop music. The problem is he’s a snob without being an inverted snob. He’s ashamed of liking pop music.

HENRY: This is true. The trouble is I don’t like the pop music which it’s all right to like. You can have a bit of Pink Floyd shoved in between your symphonies and your Dame Janet Baker -- that shows a refreshing breadth of taste or at least a refreshing candour -- but I like Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders doing ‘Um Um Um Um Um Um.’

MAX: Doing what?

HENRY: That’s the title. (He demonstrates it.)‘Um-Um-Um-Um-Um-Um.’ I like Neil Sedaka. Do you remember ‘Oh, Carol’?

MAX: For God’s sake.

The Righteous Brothers, “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’”

HENRY: I was taken once to hear a woman at Covent Garden in a sort of foreign musical with no dancing which people were donating kidneys to get tickets for. The idea was that I would be cured of my strange disability, which took the form of believing that the Righteous Brothers’ recording of ‘You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’’ on the London label was possibly the most haunting, the most deeply moving noise ever produced by the human spirit, and this female vocalist person was going to set me right.

MAX: No good?

HENRY: Not even close.

Bach, “Air on a G String”

Procul Harum, “A Whiter Shade of Pale”

ANNIE: It’s Bach.

HENRY: The cheeky beggar.

ANNIE: What?

HENRY: He’s stolen it.

ANNIE: Bach?

HENRY: Note for note. Practically a straight lift from Procul Harum. And he can’t even get it right. Hang on. I’ll play you the original.

In a medium serving bowl, mix together cream cheese and pineapple until thoroughly blended. Add crabmeat, mushrooms, celery, chives, and tarragon and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

What to Read

First aired on BBC Radio 3 in 1991, this radio play by Tom Stoppard was the origin of Indian Ink. Though the structures of the radio and stage plays differ, their subject matter is similar. Actress Felicity Kendal played poet Flora Crewe in both In the Native State’s radio premiere and in Indian Ink’s 1995 London premiere.

This book referenced in Indian Ink is a collection of letters from the travels of Emily Eden, an upper-crust member of English Society. Eden arrived in India in 1836 and stayed (with her brother, a Governor-General) for six years, spending two of them traveling the country. Her letters to her sister in England provide a glimpse into Imperial India from an English perspective.

Published in 1872 and subtitled “A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms etymological, historical, geographical and discursive,” this dictionary traces the lineage of English words to their Indian roots. The original version of the book is closer to a reference book than a typical dictionary, with narrative definitions (and a strongly Imperial point of view).

In Indian Ink, Flora and Das talk about the concept of “rasa.” Das explains, “Rasa is juice. It’s taste. It’s essence. A painting must have rasa… which is not in the painting exactly. Rasa is what you must feel when you see a painting, or hear music; it is the emotion which the artist must arouse in you.” This book explores the etymology and importance of the term, as well as its influence and significance in Indian performing arts.

This Acorn Media-produced documentary covers the history of the British Empire around the world, in both power and decline. The documentary is narrated by Art Malik, who appeared as Nirad Das in Indian Ink’s London (Aldwych Theatre) and U.S. (American Conservatory Theater) premieres.

What to Listen To

This collection of recordings (searchable by genre, artist name, or musical characteristic) provides a glimpse into the sounds of India. Each artist profile includes both sound clips and a biography section.

What to Look At

This online exhibit of items from Delhi’s National Museum, available through the Google Cultural Institute, provides a glimpse into various Indian artifacts and art styles. 165 items are available for viewing, from coins to tapestries to paintings to swords.

This exhibit, running through December 14, 2014 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, features paintings which celebrate music (and the mood/quality of music, known as “raga”). Many of the paintings are bordered with poetry, making the exhibit an especially appropriate companion to Indian Ink, in which two modes of artistic expression collide.

A Musician Charms a Mrig (Antelope)

Indian Ink begins previews on September 4 at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold & Miriam Steinberg Centre for Theatre. For more information and tickets, please visit our website.